Culture, beer and friends in Hobart
There we were deep in a building below the level of the sea looking at priceless 4,000 year old Egyptian artifacts, strange modern art pieces and some confronting displays that challenge all your senses. It may sound like an odd combination but it’s easily explained – a long weekend in Hobart with some great friends, the highlight of which was a provoking visit to the Museum of Old and New Art.
Hobart is the sleepiest of Australia’s state capitals, the home of only 200,000 people but beautifully positioned on the banks of the Derwent River in the island state of Tasmania. It is a former penal colony with rich colonial history, a deep water port, a popular centre for sailing and Australia’s base to support the country’s distant territory on Antarctica. It has a little bit of everything as long as you are prepared to slow down, rug up and chill out.
Julie and I found ourselves at this odd aforementioned museum – MONA for short – with our good friends Chris and Jann, trying to make sense of its unusual (read bizarre) presentations while admiring its amazing architecture and stunning views across the water. All told it was a great experience but I’m not going back.
Our time in Hobart had many other highlights, including a thorough sifting through the stalls at the Salamanca market (well, the boys might have ducked into a pub to watch the cricket), a tour of the Cascade brewery (with extensive taste testing in their garden afterwards) and a visit to a few historic pubs sprinkled in between.
On Sunday we followed the winding road up to the top of Mt. Wellington, at 1,270 metres a surprisingly high peak standing sentinel over the city with commanding views of the Derwent River and mountains all around. At least that would be the case if the clouds didn’t block the view while we were there. Never mind, we made the summit, it was a great drive and for Julie and I it was the second time we had been up there in 26 years.
Julie and I also loved the visit to the authentic replica of Mawson’s Hut on Antarctica and we strolled through the streets of Battery Point, admiring the old historic timber and rough brick homes that have survived 160 harsh Tasmanian winters.
Hobart also represents a gateway to the spectacular natural attractions of this beautiful island, long remote beaches, inaccessible fjords, rugged mountains and beautiful rivers. We’ve scratched the surface on previous visits many years ago but we need to come back because there’s much more to see and do on the Apple Isle – but I’m not doing that museum again.